1887 N28 Allen & Ginter T. Keefe

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Posted By: Josh K.

I need some opinions. I won the above referenced card tonight (link below). I have purchased from this seller before and everyone on this board believes him to be a reputable seller (as do I). However, in looking at the bidding history, Ive noticed one bidder who bid on the card three times today, including the closing seconds of the auction. Ordinarily, that would not strike me as odd. What strikes me as odd is that the bidder "thin_to_win" has zero feedback and yet has been an ebay member since August of 2002. Not only has he never rec'd feedback from anyone in over two years, he has also never left feedback for anyone.

Any thoughts? Is this a possible shill or someone who simply thinks its fun to cost other people money?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=57993&item=5119259590&rd=1&ssPageName=WDVW


[edited to add link]

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Posted By: Jason Smith

Didn't you bid and win this item in the final seconds?

It wouldn't make sense for the seller to try to snipe the auction as it looks laid out to me, at least. Thin to win bid just 6 seconds before you did, right? I'd say, he/she was trying to win the item. It is very hard to believe that someone could be on ebay for 2 years and never leave feedback or have it left for them, but I don't think this was a case of someone trying to make you pay more for an item, after all, you hadn't bid yet, right? I can't see where you had bid before, anyway, but I don't know if I'm reading things right.

I snipe items as well. It seems like the only way you can ever win is to do it that way so much of the time. I don't snipe an item unless I am expecting to have a good chance of getting it.

The only possible way you could confirm your suspicion would be to look at other items of the seller and look for the same pattern.

I'm not familiar with the prices of this set, as I only collect t206. Is this a good deal, or did you feel like you paid more than you should have?
Jason

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Posted By: Josh K.

Yes, I won this with a snipe at 5 seconds. "Thin to win's" bid was at approx. 11 seconds (last second snipes are typically placed at 10 seconds and less). If it was an attempted shill, it could have been placed (1) to get the then lowest bidder up to a his/her highest price or (2) to insure that the card would not sell for too low an amount (in other words, it would either not sell, or, s/o with a snipe set high enough would win it at the end at the desired price. While they very well could have been trying to win the card, it seems strange.

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Posted By: jay behrens

a search on thin_to_win's bidding hisotry shows he bid on just this one item in the last 30 days.

Jay

I like to sit outside, drink beer and yell at people. If I did this at home I would be arrested, so I go to baseball games and fit right in.

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Posted By: Julie

.........

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Posted By: Josh K.

Jay -

Does that mean its less likely to be anything out of the ordinary? And thanks Julie.

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Posted By: Just The Facts

Sep-03-04 17:24:00 PDT = Auction end date/time

Sep-03-04 09:37:17 PDT = Date/time that the previous snipe high bidder submitted a max bid of $702

Sep-03-04 17:18:40 PDT = Date/Time that someone bid against the previous snipe high bidder. That bid was $687.87 which brought the high bid to $697.87. In other words the high bid on the item right before the snipe bids came through was $697.87, this was about 5 minutes before the auction ended.

The SMR value of this card is $850 in a PSA 5 condition (SGC60 equivalent).

If thin_to_win did not place a snipe bid in 10 seconds before the end of the auction then jkrasner2 would have gotten this nice card at about $150 under the SMR value.

Don't you just love conspiracy theories. Who knows, maybe thin_to_win was trying to really get this card, only the bidder knows for sure. Usually, if I wanted to pick stuff up I'd probably try to get it at a bargain price, rather than run it up to over the full SMR value, but that's just me.

The dealer has a good reputation so why would he soil it for $150? Only thin_to_win knows for sure.

Was this sniper in the grassy knoll? Was there a magic bullet that saved the seller from taking a bath on this?

Really, this is just too much drama for me.

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Posted By: Hal Lewis

Joe P., is that you logged in as "Just the Facts"! ???

You always seem to love a good conspiracy theory!!

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Posted By: Yorktownsc

I am the seller in the auction. The second high bidder emailed to let me know about this post. He has also offered to take the card at the winning bid price if the transaction is not completed. I do not understand the problem with the bidding, but I understand being a little un-easy when a "0" feedback bidder is involved. This bidder actually contacted me prior to bidding. He wanted to assure me that he was legit and indeed does have over 1400 positive feedbacks with another Ebay ID. Sorry guys, not much of a conspiracy, just a little paranoia.